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Detection Strategies DET0165 — Behavioral Detection of Command History Clearing
DET0165

Behavioral Detection of Command History Clearing

5 analytic(s) · 1 technique(s) detected

Analytics

5
AN0467 Analytic 0467
Linux

Detects adversary behavior clearing command history via `history -c`, deletion or modification of ~/.bash_history, or manipulation of the HISTFILE environment variable post-login.

auditd:SYSCALL execve auditd:SYSCALL PATH
[TimeWindow] Detect shell history clearing shortly after login or command execution.
[UserContext] Elevated shell sessions (e.g., root or sudo) without command history may be more suspicious.
[HistoryFilePath] Bash/Zsh history file paths (e.g., ~/.bash_history, ~/.zsh_history).
AN0468 Analytic 0468
macOS

Detects adversary clearing shell history using `history -c` or deleting/altering ~/.zsh_history or ~/.bash_history. Focus on sessions with missing or wiped history.

macos:unifiedlog process fs:fsusage unlink, write
[TimeWindow] Duration after terminal usage where deletion or modification is considered suspicious.
[UserContext] Flag unexpected user activity, especially from users who normally don’t use terminal.
[HistoryFilePath] Zsh or Bash history files under the user's home directory.
AN0469 Analytic 0469
Windows

Detects PowerShell `Clear-History` invocation or deletion of `ConsoleHost_history.txt` to erase past PowerShell session history.

WinEventLog:PowerShell EventCode=4103, 4104, 4105, 4106 WinEventLog:Sysmon EventCode=23 WinEventLog:Security EventCode=4663, 4670, 4656
[HistoryFilePath] Path to PSReadLine file, typically in APPDATA.
[UserContext] User account or role performing deletion (e.g., low-priv user deleting history).
[CommandPattern] Support detection of `Clear-History` and variations.
AN0470 Analytic 0470
ESXi

Detects modification or truncation of `/var/log/shell.log` used to persist ESXi shell command history. Especially suspicious shortly after login or config changes.

esxi:shell /var/log/shell.log
[LogFilePath] Path to shell command history on ESXi.
[TimeWindow] Time range post-login or privileged escalation.
AN0471 Analytic 0471
Network Devices

Detects use of `clear history` or `clear logging` commands on network device CLI to remove past activity logs.

networkdevice:syslog CLI command audit
[CommandPattern] Support detection of known variants: 'clear history', 'clear logging', etc.
[DeviceType] Router, switch, firewall—may have different CLI behaviors.

Detected Techniques

1

Details

MITRE ID
DET0165
STIX ID
x-mitre-detection-strategy--dcc65927-b113-4f42-b7bd-adb6caebf24a
Analytics
5
Techniques Detected
1
By Tactic
Stealth
1
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